What Would You Do For Love?
by ana22
Summary: Short little piece I wrote after watching a preview clip for Catch 22. Desmond finds out he underestimated Hurley after Hurley questions him about his motives. Hints of DesPenny HurleyLibby implied. Warning: Contains spoilers for S3, E17.


Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or any of its characters.

Desmond knew he would be putting their lives at risk if they agreed to go with him. As he approached the three men he had come to know and like, he wondered how he would live with himself if something did happen. As opposed to never seeing Penny's face again, it was a mild sorrow. He would rather die than to know he would be stranded here forever, never getting to see her, touch her or hear her voice again. He decided to go through with it—try to convince them that they must help him.

"Good day to ya," Desmond said as he approached Hurley, Jin and Charlie. They were gathered around the makeshift kitchen, preparing breakfast.

"Desmundo," Hurley greeted him in his usual upbeat tone. "Want some oatmeal?"

"No, thanks." Desmond's stomach was too upset to eat.

Charlie gathered the meal he'd prepared, carefully balancing it using his hands and arms. "Well, I'll see you fellows later. My recovering patient awaits her breakfast."

Desmond felt a knot forming in his already tense stomach. He knew if something did happen to Charlie, facing Claire would be devastating. He had come to feel so much compassion for the sweet mother and her beautiful son after he heard about all they had been through. He knew if she was left alone to fend for herself, it would be on his conscience but he pushed the feeling of guilt aside as he thought about holding Penny once again.

"Hurley, could I talk to you for a moment?" He knew it would be useless to include Jin in the conversation and he didn't want to spark suspicion with any of the others. It had to be the four of them on this mission and he knew Hurley was the one with the greatest power of persuasion.

Hurley glanced at his food, "Dude, can it wait? I'm kinda hungry."

"I'm afraid not." Desmond knew it was now or never. "It'll only take a few minutes."

"Okay, okay." Hurley sighed, obviously disappointed that he had to leave his oatmeal to get lukewarm but followed Desmond toward a more secluded area of the beach.

"This better be good," said Hurley when the two men reached the edge of camp.

Desmond took a deep breath as he began, "Listen Hurley, I need your help."

"Help with what?"

"Convincing Charlie and Jin to go with us on a mission into the jungle…today."

"What? No way, dude. The last time I went into the jungle on a _mission_, I found out that the person who convinced us to go was a traitor, I was shot with a tranquilizer dart, held at gunpoint and watched as Jack, Kate and Sawyer had bags pulled over their heads and were kidnapped, so I think I'll pass."

This was going to be harder than Desmond thought. "You don't understand. I had another vision…well visions."

Hurley who was always questioning Desmond about his "powers," crooked his eyebrow in curiosity.

Desmond continued, "I saw a sequence of events. Things that are gonna happen."

"What did you see?"

"It was…it was like I saw a jigsaw puzzle, only I didn't have the picture on the box, so I don't know how the pieces fit exactly, but one of the pieces, the first one...It was you...pulling a cable out of the sand."

"So what are the other pieces?"

Desmond began to feel frantic. He knew if he told Hurley what he'd seen, he would never agree to go. "If I tell you that, it'll change the picture on the box."

Hurley shrugged, "So, what? Isn't that the point? Preventing something bad?"

He should have known Hurley wouldn't leave it at that. "Not this time."

"So you're not trying to stop something from happening...you actually want it to happen."

Desmond's heart sank. He remembered how close he'd been to happiness the day he and Penny had their photo made in front of the cheap backdrop—just before he broke her heart. He remembered the last time he touched her. He had taken his thumb and wiped a single tear from her smooth cheek. She thought he hadn't written to her while he was in prison, not knowing that her father had actually been the one to betray her by intercepting the letters that contained his heart and soul—words that were meant for her. If he'd only listened when she told him he was good enough and given into her when she asked him to stay, maybe he wouldn't be here right now. He would be in her arms where he belonged.

He knew his motives were selfish but he owed it to Penny, even if he had to go alone. "More than anything."

As he turned to leave, Hurley stopped him, demanding further explanation. "So, you're planning to put our lives in danger for something that you can't live without?"

"Tell me Hurley, have you ever really been in love?" Desmond turned back and looked Hurley straight in the eye, hoping to somehow get through to him and make him understand how much this meant to him.

"Sure I have."

Judging from the nonchalance of Hurley's response, he figured the answer to his question was actually 'no'. "No, I mean real, undying love that withstands time."

Hurley continued to talk in his usual manner but something in his eyes changed. "Well, we didn't really get that far since I watched her die a slow and painful death after she was shot in the stomach…but yeah, I loved her."

"Then you know if you had been separated from her you would've done anything, _anything_ to get back to her."

"I wouldn't have left her in the first place."

Hurley's words felt like a knife piercing straight through Desmond's heart. "What if you'd done something so bad…that you had to leave her in order to be worthy of her love again?"

"If she were standing here right now asking me to stay, I can't think of anything, _anything_ that would make me leave her. How's that for real love?"

Desmond felt the knife twist inside him. As he watched Hurley walk away, toward his waiting breakfast, he couldn't think of a single thing to say in response.


End file.
